So we are having our bridesmaids wear black dresses. 1st of all holy cow some BM dresses are expensive…..no way I would EVER ask my ladies to drop $250 on a dress for my wedding…..so we are keeping it to a budget level like under $100….I am buying their shoes, jewelry and make up for the day, so all they have to do is buy the dress. Hair is being paid for by me through a close friend who is a cosmotologist…..

since we are having a fall wedding I want my ladies to be warm….and comfortable since we are doing some out door pictures….regardless of what type of dress i choose we will be packing blankets to take with us to do the outdoor pics incase anyone gets cold! but i am trying to think here….of what i would prefer them to wear….i have the most adorable and comfortable red shoes picked out for them….and i am debating between short and long dresses..

here are my thoughts on both:

Short:

not having a super fancy wedding

I want everyone to see their red shoes

If I honestly had a black BM dress that was short Id probably wear it again to like a fancy fund raiser or wedding.

if it is icky weather out, none of the bottoms of the dresses would get dirty!

but it could be cold outside and i dont want them to freeze, but they will only be outside MAYBE 45 minutes…..

long:

possibly a pinch warmer

may look more elegant in photos

but wont see shoes easily and dresses could get dirty leading to extra cleaning bill for the ladies to get them cleaned up

may not want to keep them….

but i want to know what YOU as a BM would prefer? I like the look of shorter but want my ladies comfy…..

here are 2 of the long and 2 of the short options I am considering:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

All the dresses can be ordered in Black and will be in black! and all of my BMs say they will wear whatever I want so we are looking for opinions: all are roughly the same price and I will help cover any costs they cant afford to be there, but i want to stay budget friendly obviously the long dressesare just a tad more expensive.

i should also add that ive picked these 4 as my top contenders because they are fromd Davids Bridal a store ALL Of my BMs have close access to to avoid any fitting issues, and I think they would work with all of their shapes, and are less costly then most bm dresses I have looked at. And I would LIKE all of them in atleast the same length of dress, so if one wants straps fine, but i dont want short and long….

I vote for 2- I personally don’t do strapless, because they don’t work with my figure. Also, the last wedding I went to the girls wore strapless dresses and I kid you not EVERY single BM had really bad tan lines.

I picked #2 but I also like #4, I personally wouldnt feel 100% comfortable in a strapless dress. Dress #2 is very versatile and your bridesmaids could probably wear it again (and again and again), Dress #4 is a little more elegant but more $$$ and less likely to be reworn…

As for the weather issue, October can be a tricky month depending on where you’re from. By me, it can be in the 30s or nin the 80s! No joke. I was in a wedding in December- we wore short dresses. They’re just so much easier in general. We dealt with the half hour in the cold and moved on with life. It wasn’t that bad at all.

I like number one the best, but I would be so much more confortable in something with straps. No worries about strapless bras of funky tanlines.

Number two is awesome, wide straps, made from a jersey like fabric, so it isn’t going to cling in weird sport, fit loose and is flattering. Don’t be surprise if you ladies get a smaller size, the fabric has a ton of give.

Number three is nice, but the bust is really small, if you have any ladies that are more top heavy they are going to have a hard time with this dress. Also funky tan lines and a strapless bra- no thanks. There is also a weird piece that comes off the back that I would be guarenteed to play with all night long.

Number four the one stap is soooo overbearing on anyone that has a small frame. Also that dress is frorm the ‘party dress’ collection, meaning that it is not a bridesmaid dress, the store gets a few sizes and colours in and when they are gone they are gone. Making our bridesmaids hunt down a dress at another store, or worse having to order it on line is going to flat out suck (just because you can order something on line does not mean that you can order it in store) so I would immediatly vito that dress based on the potential avalibility issues alone.